Return to Elk Mountain
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Day 5: June 17, 2019 Return to Elk Mountain Comment via blog |
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Fortunately the restaurant that closes early on Sundays opens early on
Mondays and I was able to give it a try. There's no doubt that I would
have enjoyed dinner at Ken and Dale's. I sure enjoyed
breakfast.
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Many pioneer trails passed through Nebraska. I stopped at a marker for the
Oregon Trail in the town of Bridgeport. A couple of miles later I saw some
big rocks that pioneers on those trails would had also seen Then I found
a description, then a road leading to them.
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As I contemplated clouds in the western sky, I noticed what I thought at
first to be a small tightly clustered village. The structures are tightly
clustered alright. They are house trailers damaged,
I'm presuming, by some natural disaster. The second picture was taken
shortly after passing the trailers.
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The truck stop on the Nebraska-Wyoming line is still there and still
abandoned. Here are pictures of front and back.
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It has apparently been there since before my first visit in 2009 but this
was the first I noticed the thirty-foot statue south of the truck stop.
Guess I never saw the sign at the truck stop's edge either. The sign led
me to Our
Lady of Peace Shrine where I captured the big sculpture just starting
to vanish into the clouds.
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Then the rains hit. There was even a momentary touch of sleet, and, for the
first time ever, I drove past Tree Rock without stopping. At the Summit
Rest Area, I hastily snapped phone pictures of the Lincoln and Joy
monuments during a lull in the rain.
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The sky now became an even bigger part of the show as heavy clouds filled
my view to the west and south. They sort of mimicked Elk Mountain's
darkness which I photographed both from the expressway and after I exited
and got closer.
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My destination was the Elk Mountain Hotel where I'd first stayed in 2014
after driving what was one an official Lincoln Highway alternate route.
That drive and some very similar pictures of the hotel are
here. The rain had
stopped when I arrived and I headed out for a walk around the town, but it
had only been a brief pause and a light rain quickly brought me back
inside.
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One of the hotel's biggest attractions, and certainly one that brought me
back, is the fine dining restaurant operated by Chef Susan
Prescott-Havers. Susan set out a menu before I stepped out for my short
and damp walkabout. Before I even looked, I told her how much I'd liked
the beef stroganoff I'd had on my earlier visit and was debating whether
to repeat that experience or try something new. She said that I wasn't on
the current menu but that she could produce it if desired. A quick scan of
the menu pushed away the thoughts of stroganoff, but I didn't even make it
past the first two entrees before I was undecided again. Item one was
salmon in puff pastry and item two was a chicken schnitzel. I asked Susan
to chose for me and she agreed.
Following my brief walk, I settled down in one of the public areas with a bit of Balvenie (empty glass in chair) and a properly presented Fat Tire. Before the beer was gone, I moved to the dining room and a really nice salad followed by that beautiful salmon. Susan had made a great choice, but how could she not? It was delicious. As might be guessed, I am indeed the only guest in the dining room. The restaurant is closed to the public on Mondays although it is always open to hotel guests. As the motel's only guest on a Monday night, I got personal attention while cheating Susan out of a night off after a busy Fathers Day weekend. Much appreciated. |
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There was still some light after dinner and the rain had actually stopped
for a while. I could now walk through part of the town and learn that I
was there during its centennial. I'll get inside that museum next time.
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